


Bittersweet Beginnings to End It All

by Fandomchild



Series: Two months and a deal [4]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Bill does love stan he does, End of the World, Ford's upset, M/M, Mabel is maybe a little too good at reading people, Stan cares really he does, mabel's alone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-11 13:14:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10465872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandomchild/pseuds/Fandomchild
Summary: Weirdmageddon is here everything is going wrong. Everything ends here.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok I may have lied. One of the reasons it took me so long was because I did both of the last installments at the same time. Anyway enjoy the final leg of the journey guys it has been an experience.

They watch as the rift opens up the sky revealing an unknown and unwanted realm to the rest of the town. Yet despite how terrifying this spectacle is Ford can’t help but think the sight of his mortal enemy, the being tricked that him, gaining physical form is somehow worse. Pulling the children closer to him, he watches terrified as each one of Bill’s ‘friends’ comes through the rift into their dimension. 

One by one they come each more disturbing than the last. From the one with what seems like a million limbs to the one shaped like a giant demented toddler they all come forth with smiles on their faces. However it is the last one to come through that brings a gasp from Ford’s mouth. There floating by Bill’s side is his twin seemingly unchanged except for that of his hair which is now a bright silver. Eyes growing watery at this unexpected betrayal he never notices Bill’s focus returning to him and his family.

“What’s wrong IQ? Aren’t ya happy to see your twin?” 

“That is not Stanley! It can’t be!” Ford screams back in denial but refusing to acknowledge it.

“Ya know I don’t think that was very nice. What do you think guys,” Waiting a moment for the chorus of ‘right boss’ and ‘whatever you say Cipher’ to filter through Bill turns his attention back to Ford, “See even they agree. And we all know those who don’t play nice need to be taught a lesson.”

Pointing his finger towards them a surge of energy hits the ground where they were standing causing each of them to be sent a several feet into the air and away from each other. Landing hard on the ground it takes her a moment to get up, and when she does she is enraged to find Bill still taunting her uncle about someone siding with him instead. Wanting to do something but not knowing what, she looks around her to find several large rocks that she was fortunate not to have landed on. Picking up the lightest yet sharpest looking one she makes a move to throw it only for her wrist to be stopped before it can pull back the needed length. Glaring at the hand holding her back she tries to force it to let go but all that does is give the hand the leverage it needs to force her to drop the rock. 

“Let go of me you jerk! Just cause you decided to suck up to the triangle doesn’t mean we have to.” Mabel shouts as she continues to kick and punch the being who due to Bill’s admission she knows is her other great uncle.

“Can’t do that little star, sorry.” Stan whispers to her before rambling on in a language she can’t hear well let alone understand. 

“What are you even sayi-” 

“Sleep well kid….it’s all I can do for ya…..”

 

For a moment she lays there with her eyes wide open but unseeing still too asleep to remember what happened. Dazed and unaware all she knows is the gentle sounds of water falling nearby. Sadly this state of naivety doesn’t last and she shoots up with fists raised as if to punch someone. Finding no one in her immediate space though she reluctantly puts her hands down. Yet when she thinks back to what she was doing before all her mind will latch onto is that due to hearing the sound of water nearby she knows she’s been moved to a different location. Frustrated with how that knowledge is distracting her Mabel decides to leave the clearing in the hopes of being able to think easier once she’s gone. 

Walking towards the tree line she takes one last look at the clearing before moving forward. With each step she leaves behind that seemingly perfect waterfall with the peaceful pool it fell into and instead goes into the cold darkness of the forest. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts of that temptation Mabel continues onward hoping to find a source of light even if it’s something fire in this strange apocalypse of Bill’s. 

Finally after what seems like forever she spots a faint glow coming from ahead. Increasing her spend, Mabel gets closer and closer until she bursts through the outlining trees into the lit clearing. Happy to have at least found something she goes over to sit by the waterfall and take a long drink before….Hand stopping before it hits the water she takes a closer look around only to groan when she recognizes it as the clearing from where she woke up. Giving herself a face palm for getting so turned around she ended up right back here she decides to pick the opposite direction in the hopes it will provide her with better luck. 

Unfortunately in another hour she will find herself back in the same clearing, with the same waterfall, and the same pool waiting for her. Time after time she will leave only to end up back there hours later having made no progress. It becomes so annoying that when she walks through the trees into that patch of land for the twelfth time Mabel screams as loud as she possibly can before going to sit by the water worn out from all the walking in circles. 

“I just want to leave this stupid pond is that too much to ask?” she mumbles to herself.

“Why do you want to leave though?” A familiar voice asks from behind. 

Head moving as fast as possible she finds her ‘demon’ great uncle standing there with a perplexed look on his face. Feeling rage fill her at seeing the one who put her in here Mabel charges at him without a thought. Regrettably before she can land any punches he picks her up by the scruff of her sweater and brings her eye level. Staring directly at her now he asks again keeping his voice calm and steady.

“Why do you want to leave?” 

“Oh I dunno I don’t like the colors, I’m bored, or maybe because my family is out there having that demon doing who knows what to them while I’m stuck here!” She screams at him taking in slight satisfaction of seeing some of her spit land on his face.

Dropping her to the ground, she watches as he walks over to the pool but doesn’t attempt to rinse the spit off. Curious she comes goes over there just in time to see the last of her saliva turn to steam as it evaporates off his face. A tad bit scared now Mabel looks down to focus her eyes on something else when she sees the pond has changed. Instead of showing its rocky bed like it did before, it’s showing what looks like a beach scene of some sort. Right as she’s about to ask why this is important she sees to tiny figures enter the scene with large smiles on their faces.

“We loved that beach….Out there in the sand nothing else mattered….Not his six fingers and certainly not my bad grades. And even the bullies couldn’t take that away from us….no matter how hard they tried.” Stan says with an almost fond look in his eye at what he’s watching.

“So how did you go from that to opposite sides on a fight where the winner gets the universe?”

“He got older….Suddenly the dreams we both shared for nearly a decade didn’t mean anything to him anymore, and by the time I noticed it I had already accidentally set that bridge ablaze.”

“Surely you two just growing up wasn’t the only factor that lead up to this….was it?” Mabel asks thinking about her own relationship with her twin.

“All I know is one day I’m thinking the world of him and the next all I can hear is his voice saying the one thing he swore he would never call me. That plus all the stuff leading up to it….kinda makes someone forgot about rebuilding that bridge and instead take some amount of joy from staring at its charred remains.”

She lets the clearing go silent as she takes that in focusing instead on the scene in front of her. Suddenly it goes from two little boys on the beach to two children standing on a doorstep in Halloween costumes. Recognizing it is from last year Mabel continues to watch laughing when her past-self trips over her costume and spills all her candy forcing her and past-Dipper to clear it all up before another kid steals it. Once it ends she finds him looking at the pool with a thoughtful glint in his eyes. 

“I wonder would you still wanna leave if I told you this would be the last time you were this happy with your twin?” Stan asks eyes still holding a question she can’t understand. 

“Yes.”

“Why? You can have anything you want here? It is part dreamscape anything you desire you can have….So why wanna return to a reality you know will be upsetting?”

“Because….because that’s life. You take the good with the bad…. and try to keep the good on top. Sometimes it works out and….sometimes it doesn’t….But that doesn’t mean you should just give up and run away….. You have to face it in order to get to the better parts.” Mabel says annoyed with how it sounds but knowing its true.

“….huh…Cliché but if it works for you then so be it.”

Not understanding what he meant she goes to ask only for a snap of his fingers to interrupt her. Opening her eyes in surprise she finds herself in a pink bubble. Looking through her tinted cage she sees that she’s only a few feet off the ground. Eyes becoming hard Mabel begins jumping up and down trying to get the bubble to move closer to the earth. Luckily for her after a particularly hard jump she pushes the bubble just far enough that it pops against the point of a rock. Landing as gracefully as only one with lots of fall practice can do she decides to find the shack hoping the barrier her uncle was always talking about actually worked.

 

Branches snap under her feet as she continues to run from what she can only assume are Cipher’s minions. Looking around wildly for anything that could possible help her out her eyes light up when she sees a small hole nearby behind some of the tree. Jumping down inside when her pursuers can’t see her Mabel sits as still as possible hoping that they’ll confuse her brown hair for dirt. She waits eyes closed as the eye-bat things show up and begin scanning things as if somehow knowing she’s there. One eye-bat however manages to scan the hole and is about to tell its search buddy when a light glaze takes over its eye. Suddenly forgetting about the human it follows its flying partner to another place to search. Head popping up for a brief moment her crystal remains glowing for only as long as it takes to confirm their departure from the area before returning to its usual unlit state. 

Letting out a relieved sigh that they didn’t get her, she remains in that hole for a little while longer wanting to catch her breath before continuing. For what seems like days now she has been moving through these woods never finding the cabin no matter which direction she takes. Deciding that she needs to find shelter for the night Mabel gets out of the hole and heads into another random direction based solely on the fact that she smells sugar coming from it. After following her nose for something close to an hour she comes across what she believes is a fenced in abandoned general store. 

Unbothered by the fact she’ll have to climb the fence she continues heading towards the store. Then after a brief moment of pure terror when she climbed the fence where anything could have seen her Mabel jumps down quickly and makes her way over to the door. Pulling at it like the faded sign says she is frustrated to find it locked. Knowing that breaking the window would be too loud she looks around for another way in. Spotting an air vent on the roof she smiles and begins the dangerous climb upwards. 

Taking her time so as not to break something it isn’t until dark has completely fallen does she get up there. Looking around she spots the air vent and walks over to it. Then as quietly as she can Mabel takes the cover off and goes inside. Once in the enclosed area her beret provides plenty of light meaning she has no trouble finding her way through the twists and turns. Stopping when she thinks she smells something sugary coming from the vent nearest to her Mabel kicks it in having no other choice. Flinching at the loud noise it makes she waits in the vent to see if anything comes out to investigate. Deeming it safe when nothing comes after several minutes she hops down and starts looking around. 

Aisle after aisle she goes through picking up what food interests her and checking to make sure it’s still good. Once she’s got a good armful of food Mabel goes to a corner to sit down and begins eating. From chicken noodle soup to dry cereal she eats until she can’t convince her stomach to take anything else. Content to some extent with the results of her feast she goes to find an easily defend-able area to sleep in. 

Several minutes pass until finally after careful consideration she decides in the back near the winter clothing section is her best bet. Pulling the best preserved jackets of the wall she lays them down to use them as a mattress. Wiggling around until she can find a comfortable spot she eventually stops and pulls a spare jacket over her body to act as a blanket. Full, comfortable, and warm for the first time since this apocalypse started Mabel drifts off with a small grin on her face.

 

It’s the sound of something hitting the ground that wakes her. Getting up she clutches at the top jacket knowing that she heard something but not sure exactly what. It isn’t until she hears the unmistakable sound of doors opening does she realize what that earlier sound was. It was someone or something coming down the same air vent she did only unlike her they went to let others in. Afraid at how the general public is reacting to the apocalypse Mabel resolves to stay out of sight until she can get out of there without notice.

Grabbing the top jacket to take with her, she moves silently through the aisles as indistinguishable shadows search for the same thing she searched for earlier. Knowing she won’t be able to keep hiding if the group splits up Mabel runs as quietly as she can to where the freezer is. Then after putting on the jacket she enters the somehow still cold room and places a small ice bag as a stopper before going off to hide in the darkness of the room. 

She listens as footstep after footstep seemed to be headed back to the door. Thinking that the group may be leaving Mabel is about to get up when a soft request to go get ice halts her in her tracks. Shaking now from fear she steps back again only this time she runs into something. Floating before her is some sort of giant brain tendril thingy. Blinking at it she watches it give her a strange smile before shoving her towards the door. Still in shock she doesn’t move when it opens all the way revealing one of the group’s people. However she does move when she hears a familiar voice coming from the one at the door. 

“Mabel? That you?”

“Dip-dot? You better not be a hallucination because I swear if you are, real or not I’m gonna beat you up.” 

“No Mabel….I’m real….and it’s so glad to see that you’re ok.”

“Same to you bro-bro is…..is Uncle Ford ok?” Mabel asks worried about Bill might have done after she was put to sleep.

“He’s fine….Actually after our uh our other great uncle kidnapped you basically he sorta forgot about us. Ford grabbed me and Gideon and we ran back into the cabin…..The barrier around it works so we’ve been hiding out there this entire time. Some other townsfolk joined us too.” Dipper states calmly wanting to reassure her.

Falling silent they both stand there not really knowing what to say. Finally after a minute of this awkward silence Dipper ends it by pulling her into a hug. Surprised at how tight he’s holding her, she makes a move to turn it into an awkward sibling hug but instead she hugs him back just as tight. They stand there in the doorway to the freezer hugging like they haven’t seen each other in years and in a way they haven’t. Pulling away only when they’re stable enough to do so they laugh a bit at each other’s tear stained faces. Grabbing the ice together they both head out the store to join the rest of the scavenging party on the journey back to the cabin. 

“I’m sorry I never invited you to play dungeons, dungeons, and more dungeons with us.” Dipper begins knowing they need to clear the air of what’s built up.

“You knew I didn’t enjoy playing the game… its ok.”

“True but there’s a difference to being invited then saying no and not even being asked.”

“…..yeah…I’m sorry I got so jealous about how much you were hanging out with Uncle Ford.” Mabel agrees before admitting to her own issue.

“Hey its fine I mean we came up here to spend a summer together right?”

“Regardless you finally found someone who liked doing almost all the same things you do and I got mad about it.”

“It was kind of crummy…..Sorry about what I said about-”

“We were both mad….I know you didn’t mean it….”

“Still I’m sorry….”

“It’s fine…..sorry about getting you into trouble with Ford.”

“No problem he wasn’t that mad anyway……anything else you wanna get off your chest?”

“No I think that’s it.” Mabel answers back with a little laugh.

“Good after all how are we going to survive this Armageddon together and everything after if we don’t talk to each other about the little things?”

“You really mean that?” 

“Of course I do….Your my twin there’s no one else I’d want to face life with.” 

Letting out a slightly manic laugh the two of them lean against one another as best they can while carrying the ice. Then once they’ve calmed down they begin telling each other the adventures they’ve already had in their short time here that they should have shared together. An hour passes before they finally catch sight of the cabin. Handing the ice off to one of the others the two preteens go inside. As the door closes Mabel’s eyes widen at the sight of so many different creatures mixing with the remaining townsfolk.

By the window is one of the town’s officers with a fairy or two seemingly enhancing his vision for watch duties. Organizing the supplies from the raid on the old general store are two girls about Mabel’s age with a tiny dragon on each of their shoulders. Even the richest woman in town is paired with a troll helping out with the injured. Making a little help me motion to her twin he pulls her to the side to explain what’s going on.

“A lot of the town’s folk were captured early on. Bulbs over there lost his partner, for Grenda and Candy it was their parents, and for Mrs. Northwest it was her daughter.” Dipper whispers to her.

“Oh….and the creatures?”

“Some of the things in the woods have sided with Bill, or more specifically Stan, and these guys ran to protect themselves.”

“Is…Did Wendy and Soos….?” Mabel questions worry filling her at the thought of her two other friends being taken by Cipher.

“They’re with Ford and Fiddleford. Come on lets go Ford’s going to be ecstatic when he sees you.”

Taking her twin’s offered hand she allows him to lead her through the crowded room. With each excuse me, she brushes shoulders with more townsfolk than Mabel’s seen in the entire three weeks they’ve been there. A few minutes later they finally get out of the living room and are in the hallway. Moving more easily now that there aren’t a lot of people there it barely takes them a minute to get to their Uncle’s study. Pushing the door open quietly she once again finds herself overwhelmed by what she sees. 

There gathered around her Uncle’s desk are Wendy, Soos, Ford, and a man she can only assume is Fiddleford. As they go to the group she can’t help but take note of the ax on Wendy’s hip and the strange high-tech looking pickax on Fiddleford’s. Now standing with the rest of the war party she can see that have a heavily marked map in front of them and they seem to be discussing strategy. 

“Ford look I know you want to do this now but we can’t. We just wouldn’t stand a chance as we are now.” Wendy states knowing it needs to be said even if no one wants to hear it.

“I know that! But we don’t have a lot of time before Bill breaks the barrier and is free to terrorize the whole world.”

“Dude we get that….but we just don’t have the manpower to distract him long enough to do the second part of your plan.” Soos reiterates in a calm voice so not to upset him anymore.

“…..Why don’t we just build something to distract him?” Mabel asks interrupting the other fours’ train of thought.

The moment they see her it’s like a switch was flipped. Grabbed and held tightly against both Wendy’s and Soos’ chest Mabel can barely see Ford’s stunned expression. When she is finally released she stands there staring at her uncle for a moment before realizing that she needs to make the first move. Slowly walking towards him she then reaches out and takes his hand in her own. Kneeling down he pulls her closer until he can hold her. The moment doesn’t last more than a minute but it was long enough. Wiping at their misty eyes they turn their attention back to the map only for their final member to remind them of what she proposed.

“What did ya mean by that?” Fiddleford asks a calculating glint in his eye.

“I mean...we’ve got a enough manpower to build something pretty big….plus…I may have read some old newspapers and heard about what you used to do in your spare time Mr. Mcgucket so we have someone with the necessary experience with that sort of thing.”

“So your saying we build a giant robot and have a majority of our forces controlling it while the others go inside to do Ford’s ultimatum.”

“Yes?”

“That’s genius! Of course we’d have some difficulty making it durable enough to handle an attack from any of the dream demons.” Fiddleford begins to ramble as he draws out plans for the possible machine.

“Not if we use the cabin for most of the design. Nothing they do could get through the barrier if we did.” Dipper pitches in.

“Brilliant! Alright we’re going to need a lot of scrap metal and circuits and…..” Trailing off into muttering to himself Fiddleford continues making the blueprints lost in his own head.

Grabbing each other’s hand for a quick squeeze they watch as the others begin breaking up jobs that need to be done in order to help the project along. Soon enough the entire cabin is filled with busy bees with a new plan to follow and a new hope to believe in.


	2. Chapter 2

In the end, it takes them about five days to build their mechanical monster of a cabin with everyone’s help. From the four hours it took to weld the weird metal from Uncle Ford’s hidden basement for shin-guards for the legs to the two days it took to free a T-Rex head from some amber and attach the still trapped body to a spring canon. However in the end once the final screws are tightened and the last of the magic is set it looks like something straight out of an anime. Which, when she thinks about it, it very well could be considering who designed it. Regardless of its dubious origins it was complete and ready for battle. Now the only question was who were going to be part of the entry party and who were going to stay behind to man the robot. 

“Alright now that we’re all here we can begin.” Ford starts drawing her out of her thoughts.

Flipping the center chalkboard over the supernatural creatures all gasp when they see Cipher and his wheel drawn on the board. Before Ford can tell everyone to settle down a small fairy rushes forward to cross out the dream demon’s eye. Once that’s done the paranormal part of their resistance calm down allowing the meeting to continue. Taking a minute to just look at the adjustment to his drawing Ford then nods and continues onward.

“As I am sure the more magically inclined are aware this is an image of Cipher and his wheel. However what you might not know is this is the secret to defeating him.”

“A simple drawing is going to beat that thing?” A twitchy member asks doubt easily heard in his voice.

“Not the drawing. It’s the ten it represents. When I realized I couldn’t create anything to destroy the rift I started researching ways in order to eradicate Bill himself should the rift break. In my searching I discovered a passage of text from an ancient people who had contact with Bill before.”

Using the wooden pointer that somehow survived the end of the world he points out one by one each symbol on the wheel circling Cipher. However when he reaches the image of a fish he seems to stutter in his moments for a second before continuing onward. Once he’s sure we have seen each one in detail he continues.

“In the passage they described a union between ten souls that when combined in a specific order could destroy every trace of Bill’s energy from our dimension, including the rift he helped create. These ten symbols are those souls.”

“So how do we find these souls in order to complete the union or whatever?” Wendy asks concerned when she sees several familiar images on that wheel.

“That’s just it we already have more than half of the souls here with us now. We just need the remaining three which are in the fearamid.” Ford exclaims excited in a manic kind of way for a moment.

“So who are the ones we have already?” Another townsfolk asks with the agreements of several others behind them.

“Well uh…We have Ice, Enigma, Scholar, Six-Fingers, Star Trap, Shooting Star, and Pine Tree here with us now and they will be a part of the entry party. Leaving us to get Llama, Bleeding Heart, and-and Fish. So considering how many already have to be a part of the landing party we’re only going to pick one more to join us….Now that you’ve all been informed any questions before we start phase one?”

Having no one raise their hand Ford dismisses the meeting with the wave of his hand. For a moment no one moves, they all just stare at one another each worried on how this is going to end. However it only lasts for a second before they are all essentially climbing each other in order to get their posts. Waiting until everyone, including Dipper, is gone from the room she then walks up to her Uncle. Standing by his side it is easy for Mabel to see which symbol he’s focusing on.

“He’s the fish isn’t he?” Mabel asks solemnly, not needing to specify who she means. 

“Yes.” Ford answers back just as serious as her.

Taking his hand in hers she holds it not saying another word. Several minutes pass in dead silence until the sound of running footsteps causes them to return to the situation they find themselves stuck in. Releasing his hand, she turns and with a whispered time estimate on when they’re going to attack flowing behind her Mabel leaves the room. 

 

Looking around to check that everyone is in their places she gives the signal and the lever is pulled. Loud creaking fills the air as gears turn slowly at first but pick up speed. The cabin begins to shake and they gradually get off the ground. After checking one last time for anyone who wants to back out Ford steers the machine to town. Second by second their target becomes closer and closer until they are practically at its doorstep. Tensed and ready like everyone else Mabel watches as Ford jerks one of the levers by him forward.

The unmistakable sound of electricity surrounds them for just a few seconds and suddenly it’s gone. Their hopeful eyes follow that first blast as it crashes into Bill’s pyramid destroying a part of its outer wall. Filled with courage at how successful their strike was some of the fear and doubt leaves their mind despite the shouted orders to the Henchmaniacs coming from within the fearamid. Eyes going hard when the dream demons jump down from their ‘castle’ Ford gives the signal.

From there everything went crazy. The demons charged each screaming their battle cry hoping their numbers would give them the advantage. Smiling when the first two got close, both Candy and Grenda pushed the button on their gantlets and then shove forward with their gloved hands. In response to their actions spikes of various sizes come out from the robots hands and launch themselves at the first two. They hit their mark and both Paci-fire as well as Kryptos go down bleeding from the multiple impale wounds. 

The next to come is Teeth who rightfully assumed they’ve run out of spikes. However with a quick lever pull from Mabel part of the attic wall drops down revealing a bubbling cauldron attached to what looks like a sprinkler. Then before he can react two small dwarves twist the facet open setting off the sprinkler. Pink liquid shoots out and not only covers Teeth, but also Pyronica and Keyhole too. Burned now from the strange substance all three run away in order to get it off. Smiling at her success, Mabel runs off to another position in order to be of assistance. 

Growling to himself at how he was incapacitated Paci-Fire uses his limited mental abilities to summon more Eye-bats into the fray. Panicking at the number surrounding them, Ford freezes up at the controls for a moment before reacting. Turning the robot quickly in order to dodge, he then looks over around to see how everybody is holding up. From his position he can see one of the smaller dragons shooting fireball after fireball at the bats. Yet it is Wendy taking control of one to stone 8-Balls that draws the most of his focus. Proud at how well they’re holding up he turns his attention back to the battle and continues to move the bot out of range until the last Eye-bat falls.

“Everyone! Brace yourselves!” A young satyr shouts from her spot on the periscope. 

The house suddenly shakes as Xanthar crashes into it shoving it across the ruined town. Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Ford reaches down and presses a button on the bottom his ‘dash’. A soft humming fills the air and gains in strength each second. Watching a gage by him grow in amount in correspondence with the humming’s pitch he waits until it reaches 4000 before pressing the button below it with a satisfied smirk. The humming vanishes and is instead with a loud crack as lighting comes from all points of contact between Xanthar and the cabinbot. They all watch through the window as the force of the shock sends the demon flying through trees to the other side of the barrier. 

Unable to move the cabin for a moment in order to recuperate from that last attack she watches the window with a sense of foreboding. This is proven true when Bill, clearly angry, exits the fearamid and heads their way. There in what seems like an instance, she stares transfixed as his hands separate with the cabin in between before rushing together like he was trying to kill a bug. A blinding light surrounds them yet despite that Mabel is pleased to note they weren’t destroyed. Waiting for dust to settle they all stand proud at their posts when Bill realizes it didn’t work. 

“What?! NO, no nononono!” Bill screams out as he does everything he can think of to get past the shield surrounding the cabin.

Smiling in what can only be pure satisfaction she listens as her uncle orders for them all to attack. Grenda and Candy begin raining their own set of punches against the demon until he’s stuck on the ground. All the while Soos and Gideon have been aiming several of the cabin’s potion arsenal in order to weaken him for the girls’ blows so they can do more damage. Deciding they need to move onto phase two Mabel pushes the big blue button near her. From there two things happen. 

The first is a small siren sounds signifying that the landing party needs to prepare to launch, and the second is a plastic case guarding a green button on Bulbs’s station unlocks. Pushing the button a panel retracts from the cabins side revealing the head of the dinosaur. Then as his last act as head controller Fiddleford aims the partially freed dino at Bill’s eye. Upon making contact with it the dream demon proceeds to scream bloody murder until he pulls out his own eye to escape the pain. Enemy now blinded the landing party has their chance to head to the fearamid undetected. Handing off their posts to reserves the landing party rushes to strap on their parachutes and get into the launch tubes. Yet before Fiddleford can get into his Priscilla stops him. Giving him something he looks at and his eyes widen. Nodding to her as best he can through the shock he then heads into his tube.

Giving the eight gathered there a nod Wendy pushes the button sending them all screaming into the sky. Soaring over the still blind Cipher they all head straight for the triangle opening in the wall. Pulling their cords when they get close all their parachutes unfold slowing their decent to a manageable level. Yet just as they are about to land both Mabel and Dipper’s chutes tear causing them to fall to the ground faster than they prepared for. Scrapping their hands up pretty badly upon landing the two do their best to ignore the pain while the others touchdown. 

“You two ok?” 

“Our hands are a little bit messed up but they should stop bleeding soon enough so its fine.” Dipper answers after a quick check at his sister’s hands.

“…..Alright….. Well come on let’s go we need to find the other prophecy members if we don’t want this all to be for naught.” Ford states before leading them all into the hallway to search for wherever Bill’s been keeping the humans he captured.

They moved swiftly since they didn’t know how long the others could hold off Bill. Luckily, they come across another room fairly quickly. All around them lay the unconscious bodies of the captured townsfolk. Sleeping in what appears to be an endless dream. Despite their need to hurry Ford doesn’t try to stop them all to running to their loved ones in hopes of waking them up. However regardless of what they do, no one wakes up. 

“Come Durland….please wake up.” Bulbs whispers with tears in his eyes as he holds his sleeping partner in his arms.

Seeing how upset Bulbs is, Mabel leaves her uncle’s side and walks over to him. She stands there in what she hopes is a comforting silence before putting her hand on top of one of his. Just as she is about to tell him they need to get moving when a soft glow shines upon both their faces. Looking down she finds her the crystals of her necklace radiating a mixed gold and red light. From there it’s only a matter of that same glow to pass from her to the sleeping figure before those clueless eyes are beginning to flutter open. 

Taking a step back in order to give the newly reunited duo a moment she stands there looking down at her necklace in wonderment. Thinking for a second her attention then turns to all the other sleeping people around realizing she can actually help them. Making a move towards the first person she sees Mabel is unexpectedly halted by a pale hand grabbing onto her shoulder. Struggling in the other’s hold she is about to begin using insults when a soft voice stops her.

“Mabel…..Stop… I know you want to help them b-but we don’t have time….we-we have to find the other three members first then once that’s done we can focus on the others ok?” Wendy says with her eyes slightly misty as she looks at Mabel.

Seeing the wisdom in what she said the young preteen stops thrashing around. However that doesn’t stop Mabel from wishing she could help. Giving one last look to all the dreaming townsfolk that at the moment could be helped she turns back to Wendy and silently asks where to go. Following her lead they walk over to a group of teens sleeping in some sort of pile. Giving a little laugh as if she sees this all the time the older teen digs through the heap and pulls out a skinny Goth wearing the bleeding heart symbol. 

Setting the boy down in front of her, Mabel then looks to Wendy before resting her hand on the teenager’s sleeping chest. For a second nothing happens and she is filled the thought that the first time was a fluke. Fear and sorrow course through her veins at not being able to help anyone. Yet before she can begin to cry Wendy’s gasp stops her. Focusing again at the situation at hand she finds her crystal’s glow traveling through her to the other teen. Then just as quickly as it was with Durland the boy wakes up.

“Robbie! Look I don’t have much time to explain but we need your help to complete a prophecy in order to defeat the triangle dude.” Wendy gushes out barely taking a moment to breathe as she helps her friend to his feet.

She stands there watching as the two teens head over to where the others are gathering in preparation for the ‘joining’. She is just about to ask where she is supposed to find the person who is the next symbol when Fiddleford calls her over. Rushing over to him, she finds him holding a girl about her age in his arms. However what really attracts gets her attention is seeing the bracelet that Mrs. Northwest was wearing in his hands. Up close she can finally make out that the faded looking charm is a llama. Realizing what that means Mabel hurriedly puts her hand on the girl’s shoulder and focuses on the fear filling her since this apocalypse started. Then just like the two others the glow using her as a bridge into the young Northwest allowing her to wake up. 

Following Fiddleford as he takes Pacifica to the others she gives her Uncle a questioning look as if to ask ‘what now’? Clearly not knowing how to respond he begins spray painting the correct way to stand on ground using a paint can he grabbed from Robbie. Knowing it needs to asked, but not sure how to do it she looks around the room again hoping for something but not sure what. Mabel’s wish is fulfilled in the familiar scaled form of the canine that gave her the creatures. Standing still it comes over to her and then sits there like it wants her to pet it. Hearing the others’ screaming behind her, she reaches out and carefully strokes the scales behind the dog-thing’s ears. Surprised at how soft they feel she continues doing it until a loud laugh shocks her into stopping.

The room falls silent after the laugh and she slowly looks up not knowing what she’ll see. There standing before her is her Uncle’s twin. Who if he didn’t have those galaxy tented eyes he would almost look completely human. Snapping his fingers, the beast returns to his side where he proceeds to pet it. Never once though does he stop looking at Mabel. Then just as she’s about to ask why he’s here a familiar six-fingered grip grabs her from behind pulling her closer. 

“So you’re the one that Gad gave those gems too…. Though I have to wonder how long it took you to realize they negated and sometimes even reflected magic.” 

“Stanley, I-It’s been awhile….” Ford answers for her nervously pulling Mabel slightly behind him as if to protect her.

“Yeah it has,” Stan deadpans before the grin is back, “But hey it was worth the wait.”

“What-t….what wait?”

“The wait to see your face when you realize this is all your fault.”

“This isn’t-I mean I didn’t-It wasn’t my intention to-”

Sudden laughter interrupts Ford’s stuttering mess of denials. He watches with wide betrayed eyes as his twin continues laughing at his denial of the truth. Guilt filling him at the thoughts swarming his head he never sees Mabel hand tighten on his jacket. Once the last laugh escapes him Stan puts his focus on Ford again with mocking pity in his eyes.

“Oh of course how could possible blame you for summoning Bill in first place it’s not like you were warned against doing so….oh wait you were.”

“I never meant…..”

“It doesn’t matter what you meant Sixer. The fact of the matter is you caused all this and seeing you finally realize it is making my day,” Chuckling for a few seconds he then continues, “and once we take this thing global it will be even better to see how completely destroyed you-”

“STOP IT!” 

Hush spreads around the room allowing her scream to echo more than it normally would. Everyone stares at her in shock at what she just did. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Mabel then walks forward to stand protectively in front of her Uncle. Glaring at the stunned demon she repeats her first statement.

“Stop it. Stop lying.”

“Look kid,” Stan begins finally getting over his surprise over her scream, “I know it may be hard to hear but it is-”

“Not about that! Stop lying to yourself!”

“…What?”

“Stop lying to yourself! You don’t want to do this.”

“Kid just because I was a little nicer to you doesn’t mean-”

“No! Shut up and listen!”

Once again the room is silent after her words. Taking another step forward away from the safety of her Uncle’s form she gets closer to the former human. Rage is easily seen coming from her every pore and Stan decides to do as she says if only to see what she means.

“You don’t want to do this. You may have pretended that you wanted this over the last twenty-five years but now you’re finally here it’s easy to see you hate this. And before you say I’m wrong again look around you. If you really wanted the world destroyed like Cipher does why spare all the townsfolk?”

“I didn’t spare them….I just didn’t want them to be stone that’s all….” Stan denies with his grin fading away.

“Say that’s true, even though it’s clearly not, what about telling Gad over there to give two powerful protective crystals to someone from town? How do you explain that?”

“Well…I…”

“You can’t can you?” Mabel asks glare fading away into something more sympathetic.

“….”

“You spent so many years with Bill and his friends getting over something I can’t begin to understand. And as time went on you started telling yourself this was what you wanted because they did and you cared for them….You may have even started believing yourself….but now that you’re here it’s harder to keep the lie. Because it’s not just Uncle Ford you’d be hurting. It’s everyone else too and no matter what you say to yourself you never wanted that.”

“….”

“Please….help us. It’s not too late. You’re still welcome here.”

Everything is quiet. The sounds of the battle coming to an end outside don’t even register to their ears. Everyone is so focused on her hand as she holds it out to her lost uncle. She stands there waiting and hoping that her words got through to him. Suddenly she sees it. A spark of something begins to grow in his eyes. Yet before he can take Mabel’s hand another whisper voice rings across the room.

“Stanley take her hand…..let go of whatever lies Bill’s told you.”

The moment those words are said Mabel knows it was a mistake. Stepping back at the sight of his rage she is suddenly filled with fear. His human form vanishes in sudden blast of energy knocking her off her feet. The moment she hits the ground the chain holding her necklace snaps sending the joined crystals to the ground. Snatching it up she then crawls backwards as he begins to take a far more frightening yet familiar form.

Black wispy smoke gathers into a vaguely humanoid shape. Dark red symbols trail across anywhere skin was visible in his former form. Silver hair remains the same but it brings out the gold of his needle like teeth. Yet it is those galaxy tinted eyes filled with utter hatred that cause their terror to nearly consume them.

“Don’t you DARE say he’s lied to me! He LOVES me he wouldn’t do that!” Stan growls out from above them. 

In a way it’s almost a relief when Bill appears. Going straight to Stan the dream demon pulls the other close to him. Once he’s close enough the triangle plants a quick eye kiss on his head before snapping his fingers sending everyone but the other Pines to sleep. Rubbing his finger over the other’s head he manages to calm him down enough that his energy stops radiating across the room. 

“Wow IQ what did you say?” Bill asks surprised with how enraged Stan was when he showed up.

Getting no answer do his previous question the triangle demon decides to drop it. Snapping his fingers chains attach themselves to the Pines kids preventing them from leaving the room. Then leaving his Stan’s side he hovers high above Ford’s form. Eye taking on a maniac like glee he gets real close to the eldest pine.

“Well regardless I feel like I need to get revenge if only to defend my Queen’s honor. But hey I’ll play fair. I’ll give you a two second head start to run and then I’ll chase you. Then when I catch you we’re going to have a little chat on how to break the barrier surrounding this place.” 

Giving an apologetic look towards the children Ford turns and takes off running. True to his word, Bill waits two seconds before turning into a more agile form and going after him laughing the entire time. Now alone the two preteens look in fear at their other uncle still in his demonic form. 

 

She has no idea how long it’s been since Bill and Ford left but she knows it’s been awhile. Turning towards her twin she notices his hands have started bleeding again. Making a move to rip up her already tattered sweater for bandages she is stopped by his bloody hand. Looking at him in confusion he points down and she sees for the first time her hands have started bleeding again too. Staring at them for a moment she is suddenly filled with the hilariousness of it all and begins laughing. After a second he joins her and they giggle uncontrollable together. Then as soon as it started it stops leaving them out of breath and still injured.

Making to rip up her sweater again this time she is stopped by the sound of fabric ripping. Turning she watches as her twin tears up his own tattered vest and gives her one of the self-made bandages. Tying it around one of her bleeding palms he then waits while she does the same to him. Before they can move on to the next hand however they realize they are being stared at. Focusing their attention on Stan now they find him watching them with a strange look in his eye. Right as they are about to ask what he is doing though he begins to walk over to them determination easily seen in his gait.

 

The room rumbles as he’s carried inside trapped in one of Bill’s larger hands. Dropped to the ground he lets out a groan as one of the injuries from the chase is exasperated. Looking up from his place on the floor he winces when he catches sight of the twin’s fearful faces. Apologizing as best he can from this distance he doesn’t see Bill behind him until the demon picks him up again.

“Well that was fun but now it’s time for business. I want out of this bubble Ford tell me how I can leave.” Bill asks with a warning in his tone.

“I-I….I-I don’t know….I never figured it out-ak!” Ford tries to say only to get squeezed tightly enough he couldn’t breathe.

“That’s not the right answer smart guy. I know you researched it. So I’ll ask again how do we get out?”

“I don’t remember! I don’t-akkk-please I-I don’t-”

“Now Sixer you’ve never been a very good lair. Do we need to have some more fun before you tell me the truth?”

“Bill’s he’s not lying.” Stan says surprising his twin.

“What do you mean sweetheart?”

“When we were in his head I saw something. Something his mind thought was really important. So I took it. Ya know just to annoy him.”

“And you think it’s the way out of here?”

“Well when I looked at it was a pretty complicated equation so yeah I think so…I didn’t tell you because I just thought it was from his days with the portal. Wasn’t til these brats said it would probably be an equation I realized what I had.”

“Stan I could kiss you.” Bill says dropping Ford again and going over to Stan’s side.

“Wait til after we get out of here.”

Laughing at his Stan’s statement Bill agrees before offering his Stan his hand. Staring at it for only a second Ford swears he saw something sad in his brother’s eyes before he took the dream demon’s hand. Leaving his physical form to go into his twin’s, Ford’s head hits the ground the same time his brother’s knees do. Yet it is the soft sound of two people walking that make him lift his head again. 

Standing in front of his brother are both Dipper and Mabel. Before his eyes they begin saying something he can’t even begin to understand all the while both holding those crystals of Mabel’s in their hands. Then right as they finish whatever spell their saying they reopen their free hands wounds with the talon from Mabel’s beret and drip the blood on the crystal. The moment it hits a blue smoke begins to rise from it and circles Stan.

_“….Stanley…where’s the memory?”_

_“I lied Bill.”_

The smoke circles only twice before suddenly twisting and entering Stan’s body through his ears and nose.

_“What do you mean-Stanley what is that? Stan….why can’t….why can’t I leave!”_

_“I’m sorry….I’m so sorry Bill.”_

Stepping back from their kneeling uncle both preteens turn away as if not wanting to see what’s happening.

_“Why would you do this?! I gave you everything! I loved you!....W-was it not enough? Because if it wasn’t I can do better just let me out and I’ll do better!”_

_“It’s not like that Bill…..”_

Understanding hits him at the sight of Mabel’s eyes tearing up.

_“Then what is it like! Tell me and I’ll fix it!”_

_“I couldn’t do that to them….I couldn’t…_

Getting up as best he can he moves to them and pulls them close.

_The demon floats there suddenly realizing what happened. Yet instead of feeling enraged he feels sorrow at what he drove his former human to do. Moving closer as the flames encircle them both Bill holds his love close._

_“I love you….I promised I would.”_

_“I….thank you….”_

_With those last whisper words bright blue flames consume them both._

 

Everything is quiet when he opens his eyes. Standing before him are three people he doesn’t know and it’s only the little girl he feels anything close to emotion for. Yet as she kneels down in front of him and says their family he decides the emotion is a good one. As he takes her hand and walks by her side he thinks he could get used to having a family….and the triangle he sees floating from out of the corner of his eyes seems to agree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's all folks. I hope you enjoyed the story. Have a nice night or day.


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